Dobey defeated Justin Pipe 3-1 on his World Championship debut 12 months ago before going down 4-2 to Dave Chisnall in the Second Round.

The 27-year-old, who is mentored by double World Champion Gary Anderson, warmed up for this event in style by reaching the Last 16 of the recent Players Championship Finals, defeating Kim Huybrechts and Robert Thornton along the way.

Dobey claims those performances have given him a timely confidence boost heading into the £1.8 million major.

"It gave me such a boost," he added. "I feel my form is starting to come back at the right time, it's taken a little longer than expected to adapt to my new darts but other than than I'm going into the Worlds on a high.

"My preparation has been good, I've had a little break away but still practicing hard for this which is possibly the biggest game of my career so far."

Nicknamed 'Hollywood', Dobey has lost both of his previous meetings with Taylor in ProTour events but has typically given a strong account of himself in front of the TV cameras, notably reaching the Quarter-Finals of the 2016 Grand Slam.

He is looking to build on his first taste of the World Championship stage last year and feed off what promises to be an electric atmosphere on December 15.

"I learnt a lot about my game from Ally Pally," added Dobey. "It's sometimes difficult to play set play so you have to adapt yourself to it and I thought I handled that well and in tight situations, I kept myself together.

"Other than that the crowd were fantastic and the stage is so big, it's great to get up there.

"I've not spoken to Gary [Anderson] about the match as of yet but I'm sure he will have a little chat with me beforehand.

Looking ahead to 2018, Dobey said: "Getting into that top 32 is always my main target and then I'll take it from there.